Part 2

If I agree with this, what awaits us is a horrifying world where people will be numbers— disposable products. But this argument has a lot of parts that seem plausible. Still, when I think about what it would mean to accept it…

No. Of course, it's possible to criticize both the total war and world war theories. But for some reason this still feels realistic. I want to deny it, but there is something in here that is undeniable.

But why? Why can't I deny it? I have this bizarre sensation sticking in my throat.

"…What is this weird feeling?"

I should be somehow familiar with both total war and world war. Er, there's no way I could be familiar with awful things like that, but I definitely have some memory of them.

It's like I have a memory in some other sense…

"Somewhere, I—no, I'm…forgetting something? No, something is bothering me."

Did I see it in some other paper? No, that's not it. I just now heard the words total war

and world war for the first time. I just learned them.

Then are there some similar concepts? I don't remember anything like that. The closest thing was…yes, something I read in an SF novel. So is it derived from some experience I've had? I barely have any frontline experience, though…

I was in the field up until I reached first lieutenant, and after I was stationed in the Commonwealth as a military attaché, I've been serving in the rear. Did I hear something in the Commonwealth? I wrote a mountain of reports while I was there. I remember them all very well, but I don't recall any concepts like those… Am I overthinking this? I'm sure I've seen some part of this before, though…

Even in the middle of a war—no, precisely because it is wartime, capable staff are a must-have. That's why money is being poured like water into staffer education. As one of the students benefiting from that funding, First Lieutenant Tanya Degurechaff is on the traditional staff trip as part of her military education.

Mainen is a well-known hot springs getaway. Though its bathing district has made it famous as a health resort since ancient times, it's located right next to a harsh mountain region that always has a coat of snow. On one of the nearest mountains overlooking the peaceful town, Tanya is among the war college students getting put through the mill.

She is the only female and the only child who made it through the admissions process. Honestly, she doesn't sense as much subjectively, but as a biological fact, it can't be denied. But in the far-from-gender-free world of "ladies first," Tanya with her outwardly girlish appearance is, albeit only relatively, blessed compared to the other students.

A simple example is when they spent the night in a village on their hike. The men not only slept in a pile, but they were forced to dig trenches to do it in. Fearing the army's reputation, the superior officer allowed only Tanya to borrow a bed. She was also allowed to use the local army facilities.

Basically, apart from the mage branch, the army is a man's world. Actually, even most of the mages are men. Of course, there are rules and regulations about the treatment of women officers. And naturally, the dense army regulations you would expect from the Empire include provisions on how women soldiers are expected to behave.

That said, most of the few women soldiers who existed before mages were from the imperial family. Drafted under that assumption, the regulations envision an imperial princess and her attendants rendering only nominal service, so they feel outrageously out of date. As you might imagine, the rules for mages on the front lines, where the members of the imperial family would never be sent, have been overhauled in recent years to make them more practical in combat situations. The regulations for treatment of women officers in the rear, however, still read much like an old-fashioned guide to manners, since most of the women in those positions were nobles or imperials.

And since so few female officers continue on to the war college to begin with, no one has bothered to update the war college rulebook—the regulations drawn up for imperial family women remain wholly intact. Even if they're so outdated you want to ask how many decades or even centuries ago they were written, any rule in the Empire that hasn't been amended or abolished is enforceable. Maybe it could be counted as an adverse effect of bureaucracy, but the law in the Empire is to follow the rules that exist, even if they privilege certain people. For that reason, they've practically rolled out a red carpet for Tanya on this trip.

The purpose of the trip is simple: endurance training under extreme conditions that dull the ability to think. Tanya knows that most of the operations that staffers running on fumes come up with are Tsugene-esque nuclear land mines. So it makes no sense to the instructors to treat First Lieutenant Degurechaff like a woman when she's strong enough and has such a wealth of combat experience. And there are no stipulations in the now classical regulations concerning women war college students about how to treat magic officers. In other words, they can't ignore "Women officers should be provided with appropriate accommodations," but if there's no rule stating, "Women mage officers should not be made to carry heavy loads," they can weigh her down just as much as the others.

For that reason, since mages can use support formulas, she was ordered to attend in full gear with a dummy heavy machine gun. Essentially, go climb a mountain in your normal full gear plus a nearly fifty-kilogram machine gun, to boot. If Tanya suppresses the urge to cry child abuse, there's no legal issue with it.

Of course, there's no hiking trail—they're in the region where the alpine troops train. You can only conclude that the one who designed this system was a sadist. Even the lightly equipped alpine infantry is groaning about this uphill trek, but the students are being made to do it in full gear.

But teleologically, it isn't a mistake.

Still, wouldn't it be better to not completely exhaust the staff? she can't help but think.

"Viktor, say an enemy built a defensive firing position on that hill. You're ordered to make a swift advance on them with a battalion."

But the education is thorough. The tired officers are mercilessly quizzed about hypothetical combat orders.

"Propose a strategy."

A firing position on that hill? If it was up there, we wouldn't be able to break through or go around, would we? We'd either have to make a dejected retreat or use the heavy artillery to pummel them from a distance. Or maybe have mages charge in.

"It would be difficult to break through. In order to move swiftly forward, I propose going around."

But apparently the impossibility of a breakthrough is as far as First Lieutenant Viktor's weary brain can get. He will employ the textbook detour strategy. Well, it's true that from the looks of it we would never succeed…

That said, I can't imagine going around working any better. There's not very much cover, and the enemy is on higher ground. Before you could "move swiftly forward," you'd be shot like sitting ducks.

"Then try it, if you can." "Huh?"

"If you think you can get around them in this steep terrain, I'd like to see you try it, dipshit! I'm telling you to look at the topography!"

Naturally, the instructor's angry shout sounds tough, but Tanya doesn't have time to savor the sweetness of another's mistake.

"Degurechaff, what would you do?"

Damn it! You owe me, Lieutenant Viktor! If you had just answered properly, no one would have gotten yelled at. She wants to glare at him, but as long as he's at a loss, the heat's on him. Even if Viktor is useless, he's a good lightning rod. I should use him like that, not tear him down. Right now I need to prioritize getting through this situation.

"Do we happen to have heavy artillery support, sir?"

It's important to get a basic handle on things. I can't imagine an infantry battalion would be bringing infantry guns into this mountainous region, but if the division has its own artillery, we could expect support. Or the corps artillery would be fine, but knowing whether we have support or not is crucial…although I'm sure he wants us to think about what we would do if we didn't have any.

Still, if I don't show that I'm trying to confirm what cards are in my hand, he'll yell at me, "Why didn't you consider heavy artillery support?!" for sure. I get it, but it's stupid.

"We'll say you don't!"

"My first idea is to make a large retreat and then maneuver around along a different ridgeline."

Then the best thing to do is avoid unnecessary casualties. Luckily, depending on the ridgeline, it won't even take any longer than any other tactic. More importantly, there's no need to launch a reckless attack. Ordering a charge against a position with a good field of fire is not only reckless but cruel.

Can guys like that get jobs in the General Staff? All I can say is I hope not. In any case, the only way to beat firepower with flesh is by having more soldiers than bullets…

"And if you don't have that kind of time?"

"…My second idea is to employ skirmish tactics with mages and infantry. The mages can take out the emplacement and the infantry can back them up."

Aerial mages could definitely capture the position. We'd have been ready to take casualties, but it would be much better than trying to break through with infantry alone. I mean, I'm an aerial mage. If you're asking me what I would do if I were in command, then it's not unreasonable for me to have mages with my infantry battalion.

Well, maybe my answer was a little sneaky, but…

"That's fine. Now how would you capture the position if you only had infantry?" "Huh? 'Capture' it with only infantry, sir?"

…Did he trap me? Before Tanya knows it, he's ordering her to win with nothing but infantry.

"Yes. I'll give you a minute. If you don't want to sleep outside tonight, better answer quick."

Now he's just talking nonsense. If it were possible to capture positions with infantry, we wouldn't be spending all this time worrying about positional warfare. You're seriously telling me to take the hill under these conditions?

With no engineers? No mages? Are you just telling me to do this Three Human Bullets– style? I don't even have to think about it.

"Sir, I think capturing it would be impossible."

For a second, all of her classmates' expressions change. Most of them were mulling over the problem, and the word impossible is a shock. After all, that word could put the instructor in a bad mood. It's a comment that could lower Tanya's academic standing.

I've got a bad feeling. Why couldn't he have picked on Captain Uger or one of those guys? I want to put my head in my hands and moan about my bad luck, but I can't because my hands are full of heavy machine gun.

"What? What do you mean?"

Like a certain Empire of the Sun, our army has a reputation for bayonet charges, and if the opponent's interdiction fire is weak, maybe something could be accomplished with them. But rushing a Republican Army defensive position with bayonets would just be kicking a hornet's nest. A night assault is conceivable, but a mission on battalion scale in the dark mountains could end with us all getting killed. If we think that far and still can't calculate a decent chance of success, the answer is that it's impossible.

"What is a staff member? Going back to basics and considering my duties and obligations, I believe capturing the hill is impossible."

She makes sure she has some remarks ready to shift responsibility. People learn from mistakes. She isn't about to repeat her error of talking too much to the brigadier general in the reading room. She will make impossibility a factor of her duty, not her lack of fighting spirit.

"A staff member's duty is to pursue the best possible plan."

In other words, according to the General Staff, capturing that emplacement is impossible. It can't be done. That's what I'm saying, anyhow. Of course, a staff member has to come up with operations that will win. But there are any number of obligations that can be used as excuses.

"But piling up casualties in vain would be the most abhorrent thing I could do."

If he shouts at me that we prioritize victory over soldiers' lives, I won't know what to say, but at least I've done everything I can to avoid looking like I have no fighting spirit. In the academy, we were told over and over—and, for some reason, over again—to love our troops.

Weirdly, now that I think of it, I feel like they emphasized this the most when talking to me. It would be a shame if it was because they thought I didn't understand that we have to educate our subordinates since we can't choose them.

Anyhow, I have my excuse. My cause is just enough. I can stand tall this time and say what I think.

"In light of that, I would say that in this case, attacking the hill should be avoided."

The instructor turns a glare on her, trying to figure out how serious she is. I have zero intention of screwing around. Any businessman can stare back with that look in his eyes. The only other thing you need is the nerve to not back down under the intense gazes of soldiers and the like.

In other words, being used to it is half of the battle. The other half is having a heart that believes in inner freedom.

"All right. I'll make a note of it. Okay, we march!"

Ack, so he's going to make a note of it after all? I guess soldiers don't like the way businessmen think. Ahh, what should I do?

I want to believe I faked him out okay, but I have the feeling getting noted isn't a good thing…